Weeping Camel is a truly beautiful Mongolian film. Set in the Gobi Desert. It must be one of the most inhospitable places on the planet. It tells the simple story of a nomadic family.
A camel has a hard time giving birth and when she eventually does she rejects her colt immediately. It is up to the family to find a way to bring mother and colt back together again.
A beautifully shot film - the unrelenting barrenness of the desert, the intimate and tender relationships between humans and their animals, and the relationships within the family, the fragility of traditional life and traditions and the the modern world - its motorbikes, computer games and satilite dishes.
My children asked why anyone would choose to live in the desert. And I wasn't sure I had an easy answer.
But it is to the traditional ways that the family find an answer to their problem. The film offers us a glimpse of a way of life that almost certainly is dying out.
Moving, sentive, touching.
Photo Camelus bactrianus by Jerrold
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerrold/238351928/
Good to hear what you're seeing (or is it seeing what you're seeing??).
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of this one.
S